The present invention relates to the use of ultrasound guidance for locating and cannulating peripheral blood vessels which can be performed by both medical and paramedical professionals such as registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, paramedics, laboratory phlebotomists, researchers, portamedics and emergency room and critical care staff etc.
Intravenous cannulation is an invasive procedure wherein an intravenous catheter is blindly inserted into the lumen of a peripheral blood vessel through the patient's skin. The procedure is performed by the above-mentioned health care providers primarily for drawing blood from patient's arm for diagnostic purposes or for administration of medications and intravenous fluids to treat or save a patient's life. Successful cannulation is highly dependent on the dilatation of the target blood vessel caused by tourniquet application above the level of the insertion site. The dilatation displaces the overlying skin superiorly which subsequently becomes evident to the clinician as an obvious skin bulge on the target site. On a high percentage of patients, especially the seriously ill, geriatric, pediatric and neonatal patients, the obvious bulging of the skin, in reality, rarely happens. Instead, the clinician resorts to multiple attempts that frequently fails. As a result, patient mortality rate is on the rise due to delay of treatments brought about solely or partly by inaccessible intravenous lifelines. This is presently a big problem in health care worldwide which has been addressed but has never been solved.